Disc brake systems are commonly used on the front axle of most vehicles because of efficiency in stopping a vehicle. In such systems, a bearing assembly is fixed to a wheel hub that is bolted to a knuckle, a brake rotor is thereafter attached to the wheel hub and a caliper that is bolted to the knuckle member spans a portion the rotor. The knuckle member is pivotally attached to the frame of the vehicle and a caliper is bolted to the knuckle to locate the first and second friction members on opposite sides of the rotor to define a corner assembly. During braking the friction members are moved into engagement with corresponding braking surfaces on the rotor to effect a brake application. Unfortunately, while the individual manufacturing tolerance of the various components that make up a corner assembly may be within desired limits when the tolerances are combined or added together a relationship may occur wherein a mounting surface on the wheel hub for the rotor and/or braking surface on the rotor are not in perpendicular alignment with the wheel bearing axis of rotation. In an effort to maintain or achieve a perpendicular relationship a process has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,825 to assemble a corner module and machine surfaces on the wheel hub after attachment to a knuckle. While this process does provide an initial perpendicular relationship for the rotor with respect to the axis of the bearing, often on replacement of the rotor the perpendicular relationship is not duplicated.
Later a process was disclosed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/904,202 wherein after a hub was attached to a knuckle the machining alignment of the hub flange, braking surfaces on the rotor face and bosses for a caliper mounting are machined by holding onto appendages through which the knuckle is attached to a vehicle. In some situations where all or some of the appendages have different sectional thicknesses and/or length, the knuckle may deflect and/or distort under loads encountered during machining. Unfortunately, such deflection may induce excessive vibration or misalignment as the surfaces are being machined and as a result the desired alignment and/or surface quality of a machined surface are not achieved. Additional machining process steps may be required in the manufacturing process to correct this situation and increase the complexity of the manufacturing a corner assembly.